The Ying and the Yang
by sweetiepie1019
Summary: A sort of remake of the concepts of Tamers. Digimon come to the real world, but not as you ever expected them to. It's time to mix it up. First Digi fic, so be gentle. A POSSIBLE REWRITE AND NEW CHAPTERS COMING SOON!
1. Penny Meets Ogremon

AN: Yup, yup. Here I go, making all my readers ten kinds of crazy. What can I say? I simply don't have the attention span for one story at a time. Plus, this is fun. I haven't been anywhere Digimon (or, frankly, anything anime) in something like seven years. Wait. When did the first half of season three come out? Somewhere around then. Well, I was Digimon Adventures 2 and Digimon Tamers girl, at any rate. But I was having some fun surfing YouTube, and what did I lead myself to? My old friend, Digimon! What would you have done? I re-watched the entire Tamers series, and I've gotten through most of the original series now. I also popped in some of season 4 (not my favorite, let me say) and Savers, which seems awesome but the subbing is far too small and similar in color to the background to let me get through too much of it.

I'd been looking for something new. I'm tackling Pushing Daisies now, but straight TV isn't really my thing anyhow. I needed something that translated better a more novel approach. Pun unintended, but not disliked. Anyway, I decided to run with it. I'm all sorts of rusty on my Digimon knowledge, so forgive any and all lapses, if you could. Also, I haven't read any Digimon fanfic due to my impending midterms (I wouldn't have time to write, except I have to do it to keep myself calm), so if this sounds like any other fic, trust me, it is one of those zany interstellar coincidences that are going around. Remember, this is my first foray into this particular set of interest in more ways than one, so play nice. And tell me anything I get wrong, and I'll gladly fix it. Keep in mind my style. I'll be mixing in my love for fantasy with the more scientific aspects of the show. The science will come, yes, but not right away, and that is bound to be riddled with mistakes as well, though I'll do all I can to double check before I go shooting off my large, non-science capable mouth. Finally, this adheres to no permanent rules. In other words, I'll be borrowing from all the seasons – well, not four. And only five if I can my hands on the English dubbing. I'm too confused, otherwise.

Oh, yeah. One last thing. I've only got a basic map of this fic. I know the end and I know the important parts, but undoubtedly there'll be bumps on the way, so do your best to coast them with me.

Disclaimer: Did you hear that song they play during the fight scenes of season one? I have nothing to do with Digimon, because I so would never have let them use that thing. It's so … damn … _happy._

Little Penny Cynthia had always known there were monsters. Her daddy had lied to her for years, but she'd known better, really. Every time she was in her room alone, after her father had "checked" for monsters under her bed, she sat up in the dark, the frail hairs of her arms at attention and her tiny shell ears perked up as much as they could to listen for the creeping and slithering of the absolutely-positively unimaginable of baddie beasties. Princesses were always being carried away by slimy trolls and enormous dragons in all the fairytales, weren't they? And her daddy had always called her his little princess.

And there, at last, was the great green monster right in front of her.

The first thing she noticed were the fangs. Each of them was easily the size of her kitten, Puffypaws, and covered in drool like Captain Doggy Do's mouth. But they were curved and twisted and riddled with brown sinkholes like the pictures in the dentist office, and she knew this thing was nothing like her beloved pets.

Then were the muscles. And the large, girl-crushing sized hands. The giant bone club, with its bumpy head that looked like it could easily bump her head. White wild hair, dirty and matted, in need of her mommy's best smelling shampoos. But the worst were his eyes. There simply weren't any there. Just white holes in the front of his head.

His great snout twitched, and he snorted in great breaths. The creature lumbered first one way, then another, the ground trembling with each clumsy step, and the white holes seemed to scan the area, though how Penny knew this she had no idea; there weren't any pupils to indicate the direction of his gaze. She knew this also – this monster was looking for her, and she was feeling desperately un-princess like.

She hunkered down in the bushes where she was hidden, trembling. Never before had the urge to cry been so very enticing, but she couldn't. Instead, she remembered how her daddy had looked when she'd fallen from her bike last week and he'd come to pick her up.

"That's my brave little princess," he'd said. "That's my strong baby girl."

Her chin may have quivered just a little, but she didn't make a peep. She was his brave baby girl. Or something like that. Besides, how could that nasty thing see her with all this fog?

Somehow, miraculously, or like a fountain of bad luck falling just on her, the empty sockets swung to the bushes where she lay and locked themselves there. Yelping in awful triumph, the disgusting thing galloped towards Penny's hiding place, panting eagerly, saliva running down his chin and being whipped through the air to spatter on the ground behind it.

Poor, darling, brave Penny let out one soft, terrified "_Oh!_"

"BUSHIDOMON!"

Out of the shadows, too fast for Penny's watery eyes to see, leapt a strange beast. It hurtled powerfully into the green monster's side, causing the thing to fly into the wall behind it. The new creature sprinted after it; Jenny caught a glimpse of a thin blue fox – or maybe a dog – with a whip-like tail before it was engulfed in fog.

In its place ran a girl, much older than Penny. She looked about the same age as the college kids in town. She was slim and fairly tall with flowing black hair and light skin that shown in the moonlight that broke through the cloud. When she spoke again, it was with a power that belied her delicate appearance.

"Bushidomon, he's weak to your left," the girl shouted over the sounds of the scuffle that Jenny couldn't see. What she did see was an odd sort of cell phone or game boy in the girl's hand, glowing like an overlarge butterfly. "Use your Message of the Master Claw when he raises the club!"

"Message of the Master Claw!" a menacing voice repeated. There was a flash of light and a resounding whimper that made something in Penny's tummy feel sick. Beautiful green light floated through the cloud from the direction the fox-dog had run off to. A tiny bit of swam past Jenny, alighting on her nose for a moment before chasing its friends up into the sky.

At once the fox-dog – or was it a wolf; not that it looked like one, just felt like it – returned to the girl's side. Penny gaped at the mere size of it. It stood a good foot or two over the girl, in spite of the fact that the girl herself seemed to be courting six feet. Great horns of silver light ribboned across its great back. Its fur was a midnight sky on a moonless night, deepening into black at its paws and lightening to an electric blue at the edge of its tail and around its eyes. Eyes of a dark, fathomless purple … the same color of Doggy Do's collar, only prettier.

With an acrobatic ease, the girl swung herself onto the dog-fox's back. "Great job, Bushidomon."

The great fox-dog answered in a rumbling growl. "Is that all I get? I defeated a Champion with one attack …"

"Yes, yes, you're the greatest Digimon ever to walk solid earth, I know." The girl's laugh didn't match the rest of her. It was loud and brash and faintly comforting to Penny. "How mad do you think Jake'll be that we didn't call him?"

"It was one Digimon in a small field. It would have been pointless to wake up him and Humaomon."

"So he'll be really angry." The dog-fox ruffled its shoulders uncomfortably. The girl sighed before reaching down to pat the creature's head. "Alright, start trotting. With any luck, you'll be Kitinumon by the time we get home."

The large fox-dog loped away silently. A slight breeze teased the leaves of the bushes where Penny hid, and her unsuspecting saviors were gone.

Her small hand scooped up a ragged bunny doll from the dirt beneath her. She smoothed the faded dirty face lovingly, fingers shaking, her thumb rubbing the familiar hole where one of the rabbit's button eyes used to be. "Bugs," she said, holding her beloved toy to her chest, "that was a big, big dog. And it could talk. You don't think this was a dream, do you, Bugs?"

Penny had come outside because of a dream. She had dreamt of being lost in a strange land, wandering around all alone. In the dream, she had been missing someone terribly, but she didn't know who it was. When she'd woken up, she'd felt so sad that even Captain Doggy Do and Puffypaws couldn't lick away her fears. So she had clambered out her window and down the trellis into the bushes where she had left her favorite stuffed animal.

"I don't think it was a dream, Bugs," she continued thoughtfully, her voice beginning to lose some of the squeak that the nasty green monster had inspired. "It's too cold, and that thing smelled way too bad. But the dream didn't feel very dream-like either. I was older and it was all hot and my feet hurt a lot and it all felt really real. I'm not sure what's going on."

She was already starry-eyed thinking of the girl who had saved her. She had been so beautiful. She had looked like a princess.

Penny frowned. The girl couldn't be a princess, though. Princesses didn't save themselves, they let knights and princes do that. So maybe the girl was a knight. A girl knight. A girl knight with a really big dog and pretty, silky hair. That was so much better than being a princess.

"Oh!"

The air just in front of Penny began to shimmer, then glow. Far from being alarmed, Jenny giggled happily from the warm feeling the light gave her. Penny stuffed Bugs into the front of her nightgown so she could reach out and wrap her hands around it.

The light solidified into the same sort of phone or game that the girl had. It fit perfectly into her palm, almost as if it were a part of her, a part that had been missing all her life without her even knowing it.

"It's wonderful, isn't it, Bugs?" she asked in awe.

And from the phone shot a beam of … well, her best guess was solid air. And she really wanted to climb onto it and follow it to wherever it might lead.

First, though, she thought of something.

"This is kinda like a falling star, isn't it?" she mused, turning the thing over, watching it shimmer and sparkled with every sort of color imaginable. "I get a wish." She pressed the thing as close to her heart as she could (or what she thought was her heart, for anatomically speaking, her real heart was a few inches to the left) and wished with all her might. "I want to be just like that girl. I want to be brave and strong and fight for myself, instead of just sittin' in the bushes. I wanna be better than just a princess."

Though she had no reason to believe the thing had heard her at all, she felt as if something had acknowledged her request – acknowledged it, and approved. She couldn't put that feeling into words, as she didn't know any big enough, so she didn't try to express herself to her captive bunny audience. Instead, she gave the air a hefty experimental pull.

Instantly, the end of it wrapped around the hand containing the phone and pulled her upwards at a breakneck pace. She laughed sweetly into the rushing wind, loving her newfound weightlessness and sense of adventure.

Bugs the stuffed rabbit slipped from her nightgown and plopped silently to the ground, the last thing to see little Penelope Cynthia, only eight years old, on the planet Earth for some time to come.

AN: Well, here we go. No beating around the bush – bring on the DigiDestined! What's up with Penny? Who is the girl? For that matter, who's that Digimon? And, by the way, I did not make those names up. And do you know how hard it is to find Chinese and Japanese online dictionaries that give you the English spelling of the word instead of a character? Hope you all enjoy, and if I've made any glaring error (other than making up Digimon, which you will hopefully excuse), tell me and I'll make it all better. Love? Hate? Review!


	2. Zi and Jake Find an Ultimate

AN: Alright! Not a long chapter, I grant you. Nor an amazing one. But I've got exams coming, and I'm pressed for time. Just a little intro into a couple more characters. Again, I am still a newbie when it comes to half this stuff, so if I get stuff wrong, just let me know. Here goes!

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, Season 4 wouldn't have ever happened. No offense to anyone who liked it.

"An Ogremon?"

"Just one Ogremon."

"An Ogremon?"

"And Kitinumon was Digivolved and everything."

"_An __Ogremon_"

"A small one. Tiny. Tinier than a MarineAngemon. Tiner than a …"

"You're supposed to call me, Zi! You can't go alone into these DigiFields, you never know what could pop up in those things …"

"It was just an Ogremon!"

"And it was just a Roachmon! And just a Kiwimon! And it was just a LadyDevimon, too, was it?"

Two friends stood as far apart from each other as they could get in the small bedroom. One, a tall girl with pale skin and, was holding her hands out in placatory manner, her face screwed with guilt and anger. The other was a tan boy a little taller still. His hair stuck out of his head like sun rays, or a very yellow cactus. His ears were turning red with a boiling rage.

"You should know better by now. Nearly ten years we've been doing this, and here you are running out on your own, acting like you got your Digivice yesterday."

Zi snorted derisively, flipping her magnificent hair backwards in a sweeping motion that would've daunted anyone else; Jake was too used to it to mind. "I remember LadyDevimon as well as you do, Jake."

"Then you'll remember what happened, Zi," Jake replied evenly. "I almost lost you then."Just behind them, the bedroom door creaked open. Neither person had a chance to look towards the cause of the disturbance before a shot of blue streaked through the room. Seconds later, an oddly colored medium sized dog with pointy fox ears was sitting in Zi's arms.

At a leisurely, quieter pace, a large golden cat slunk through the open door and weaved through Jake's legs, arching his back and spitting at the pair across the room.

When the dog spoke, for the dog did speak, it was an odd growling voice; anyone not paying attention would mistake it for the bark of a terrier, perhaps, or one of the smaller hunting breeds. "It's been many years since then. We have grown stronger. And if had been a more powerful Digimon we would have called for you."

"So you say." The cat sounded as if it was hissing with every word. Its bottlebrush tale, thick with a white tip like a fox, twitched and swished with irritation. "So you always say."

"It always comes back to this, doesn't it? If we need you, we'll get you, but we never need you!" Zi scrunched her nose mulishly. "We haven't had a real challenge in forever. And every time we take down some two-bit Rookie you two think we're coming home in a box."

Kitinumon yipped in agreement. Sneezing forcefully, Humaomon's golden tail whipped and snapped to attention in warning.

Fists clenched and eyebrows twitching in time, the two friends stared each down, neither giving an inch. With a graceful elegance that his stubby legs hardly implied, Kitinumon bounded from Zi's arms to the desk beside her down to the floor. Humaomon yowled, showing all of her teeth, and flowed across the rug to meet her friend. It was apparent from their expressions that they were willing to literally knock sense into each other.

"Do we always have to do this?" Barreling through the Digimon circling each other on the rug, Zi scampered over to Jake and flung her arms around his neck.

Jake rested his chin on top of her head, a position he'd become used to since his last growth spurt a few years ago. "We just want you to be safe."

A muffled reply emitted from the top of his chest.

A smile cracked the tan face. "Can't hear ya, Zi."

The raven-black head turned just a few degrees. "I said, I know. You have to trust us."

"I know."

Zi sniffed forcefully and buried her head further into Jake. "You were going to tell me about a new DigiDestined, weren't you?"

Humaomon, still standing a good distance from Kitinumon, answered. "A boy in New York. He appeared on the radar a few hours ago."

Unraveling herself from her best friend, Zi grinned triumphantly. "A new DigiDestined!"

Jake nodded, grinning back. "An Ultimate Degidestined."

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He was surrounded by something. That was the first thing he knew. He could feel it swirling around him as he lay in the wet grass. He breathed it in deeply; it tasted like something and nothing at all, like rain and computer data. The smell was a mix of an old world and a new one. Experimentally, he reached out his long tongue and tasted the air. It was completely unidentifiable, as far as he could tell.

This was interesting enough to warrant him opening his eyes.

Silver light, almost solid enough to be mist, flowed and eddied around him. It tickled his hair, making him giggle. The giggle surprised him. He wasn't sure he'd ever giggled before.

"Er … hello?"

He blinked rapidly to clear the silver from his eyes. In front of him stood a boy with brown spiky hair. Maybe something had exploded nearby.

"Look, I don't know you. Or what you are. Well, I think I know what you are." The boy looked down to something shining in his hand. "It lead me here. Weird, right? Everyone in school would think this is seriously weird. I think it is, too. I think. I don't know what I think anymore."

He tilted his head questioningly and let out another giggle. The boy smirked back.

"Guess you find me kinda funny, huh? Well, you're kinda funny looking. You're just a head and some ears."

This explained more than it didn't. He smiled at the boy to show he agreed.

"Not easily offended, are you? And you don't talk much. But you're my partner, if you are one. A Digimon."

That was definitely right. He giggled, happier and louder, and began to bounce slightly.

"Alright, alright." The boy chuckled. "That's so cool. A Digimon. So what Digimon are you?"

He had to think about that for a moment. He had a name. He knew he had a name. He poked around his mind for it, which felt about as sluggish as wading through mud. Wait! He had it. He cradled the knowledge for a moment, pleased immensely with his discovery. It was a very nice thing, having a name. He decided to share it with this explosion-headed boy.

"Chibutoumon."

AN: Not in love with it, but I've got work to do and cookies to bake for Christmas. Love? Hate? Review!


	3. Doramon

AN: I know. Bad writer! Bad! Not updating for month on a new story isn't usually my thing, but I had finals, holidays, the whole shtick. So I've working on this for over a week now in my spare time. I'm not sure how good it is, but its real purpose is to get me where I want to go, so I can deal with the rough spots. You can, too? Beautiful. On with the chapter, then!

Disclaimer: Yuh-huh. I own Digimon. That's right. Also, did you know that I'm George W. Bush? I know!

"Bubble Attack! Bubble Attack! Bubble Attack!"

Too early. Way too early. Nice dream. Nice dream about … Digimon, he thought, but he hadn't played with Digimon since he was, like, eight …

"BUBBLE ATTACK!"

The sound of crashing officially pulled him out of his sleep. Instantly he was on his feet, baseball bat clenched firmly in hand, felt boxers strained by his battle stance.

"Oh … _crap_ …"

Destruction. Pure and utter destruction. Desk torn apart. Books scattered and pulled in half, pages lying on all available surfaces. His extra pillow had been ripped to shreds. And there, in the middle of it all, was a tiny toy Digimon. A tiny toy Digimon … taking aim?

Taking aim at his computer.

"Bubble Att-"

"No!"

With an agility born of hours of soccer training, he leaped over the debris that had been his room and grabbed the little ball mid-bubble.

They landed on his floor, Leo on a piece of his desk and Chibutoumon on Leo.

"Ow."

"Fun!"

Groaning murderously, Leo rolled to his knees. Chibutoumon plopped down on the carpet beneath him. The little Digimon giggled happily. "Awake! Spikey's awake now!"

"That hurt," Leo reiterated, rubbing at his back and coughing back the air he'd swallowed.

"Sorry, Spikey." Chibutoumon wriggled out from under his partner and began bouncing merrily around the room. "Let's play! Let's play, let's play, let's play, let's play …"

"I'm going to need a lot of coffee this morning, aren't I?"

"Let's play, let's play, let's play …"

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New York City was nothing short of sweltering that day. People no longer walked the streets, they waded through them; the heat reduced every straight line to a series of curves and waves, giving the overwhelming feel of swimming through a giant metal pool. Except it was inadvisable to touch the metal. Stock brokers loosened their hundred dollar ties and threw their jackets over their shoulders. Fashionistas slipped about in their stilettos; agents sweated through their well-tailored suits. In Manhattan the hot air was claustrophobic, hemmed in at every turn by buildings and cars and people practically piled on top of each other.

The air in Brooklyn had a more cloying feel to it, as if someone microwaved a giant bowl of pudding and poured it into the atmosphere all the way from Greenpoint to Brighton Beach. Everything had a brownish tint and the smell floating in from the bay and the backs of allies carried far inland and through the streets; what little breeze there was only served to move the odor into the houses and apartments, under the windows and squeezed through cracks in the door.

Porches were filled with grandmothers of every ethnicity, clad in loose clothing that stuck to the sweat of their large wrinkled arms, clutched rosaries and crosses of various sizes to their generous breasts and proclaimed it the end of the world.

Nobody paid much attention to the two teens that were wandering through the neighborhoods, taking no notice of the biddies and their dire predictions. There wasn't much remarkable about them. They walked at the leisurely pace of someone who knew the area they were in; they had the right clothes, the right talk, and certainly the right attitude. If there was one skill that Zi and Jake had polished over the years, other than fighting rogue Digimon, it was their uncanny ability to blend in anywhere.

With certain exceptions, of course.

"Stop laughing."

"I'm not!"

"Jake."

"I'm not much."

"Looking at any kind of paper makes you look like a tourist. You know we need to blend in. Digimon make us stand out as is."

A muffled voice called out in protest from Zi's fashionably large bag.

"Sorry, Chi," Zi said absently.

Jake snorted in a very undignified way. "Zi, you wrote directions on your hand. That makes you look like someone who's trying to not look like a tourist. Which is worse."

"Oh, like anyone can tell that's what I'm doing. I've been doing this just as long as you have." She consulted her palm discreetly. "Left here."

Grinning, Jake elbowed her slightly. "Yeah. Just not as well."

"I don't memorize! My grades should tell you that." She scrunched her nose up to read the side of her thumb, then laughed triumphantly. "This is it! This is the house! And – ha!"

"Calm down, Ms. Tan." Together they took the stairs with practiced composure, turning into responsible adults a little more with each step.

Zi flourished her hand at the doorbell. "Will you do the honors, Mr. Perry?"

Smirking, Jake complied.

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"Out first in the morning, off to go study … hasn't studied on the weekend, a day in his life, that boy hasn't … when I get a hold of him …"

Mrs. Rossi had once being an easy going woman. She recalled this only vaguely, having lived through the latter half of the sixties, but she remembered it all the same. What had changed was irrefutable, as far as she was concerned. Children. Children had changed her. Six of them. Six children, raised in Brooklyn on a journalist and baker's salaries. And here it was, the last two of them, and they made more trouble than their four older siblings combined. And here she was, fifty-two with more grey hair than brown.

The doorbell rang at the door she has just passed. Muttering incoherently about her son, she wheeled back around and stalked ferociously back to the door. Red-faced, fuming, her left eyebrow twitching, she pulled open the door. "What?"

On her aged front stoop stood two young adults, a few years older than her Leo, but much cleaner and more presentable. The girl, Asian with sleepy eyes, took a confident step forward and held out her hand. "Hello, Mrs. Rossi. We're here from Rachel Carson Prep, and we'd like to talk to you about your son Leo."

"Really? Rachel Carson, eh?"

Perkily, the girl continued, ignoring the obvious sarcastic edge to Mrs. Rossi's voice. "A very reputable school, ma'am. My name is Ms. Zi Tan, and this is Mr. Jake Perry."

Mr. Perry nodded curtly and held out his hand as well, though Mrs. K had made no move to shake Ms. Tan's. "We think your Leo could have exactly what we're looking for."

"Leo? My boy Leo?" Chortling, Mrs. Rossi leaned comfortably on the doorjamb and looked the two of them straight in the eye. "Look, I don't know what kind of scam you're pulling, but between you and me, Leo is about as bright as a firefly with the bulb gone out. So why don't you two just head down the road a bit. Mrs. Heber thinks her girl is a God-sent genius, she'll pony up the dough as quick as you can sling that pitch of yours. But don't try tricking me, and don't come near my boy." She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead and flicked the sweat at "Mr. Perry's" shiny shoes for emphasis.

He looked down at his shoes. He looked up at Mrs. Rossi. Then he grinned. "It's a soccer scholarship. Ma'am."

"We need a new striker," Ms. Tan added. "Scouts were watching his summer league a couple weeks ago. Your _boy_ Leo has definite potential."

"We're the new coaching assistants," Perry added, "and our boss sent us out to have a talk with

Well. Mrs. Rossi didn't know much a lot about soccer, and she certainly didn't know much about how scouting and preparatory schools worked, but she did know that Leo had been talking about someone coming to look at him a little while ago. She also knew that he'd been excited about it; he'd talked so fast, he'd actually forgotten to eat. Which was a rarity for Leo.

Flustered, Mrs. Rossi wiped her hands on her pants and shook each hand vigorously. "Oh, dear. Oh, I'm so sorry. Please come, just come on in." She ushered them into the house, glancing frantically around at the entrance and living room. Of course she should've cleaned, but it had been so hot! Maybe if she covered the couches with her grandmother's afghans. "Leo's off studying right now, but he'll back real …"

She was startled by the loud beeping noise coming from both of the coaching assitants' belts; it came from some kind of weird, brightly colorful pager. Strange she hadn't noticed it before. Who could keep up with kids and their gadgets? Next thing you knew, Leo and Addie would be wanting one of those things, too, and heaven forbid she say the word budget when her children were doing their angling.

Tan and Perry exchanged very odd looks; then Tan did something stranger. She lifted up her purse (which Mrs. Rossi thought was excessively large, whatever the fashion was these days) and shook it at Perry meaningfully. It was almost like a challenge.

And the bag squeaked.

Before Mrs. Rossi could register this, Ms. Tan had restored her purse to her shoulder and was backing out the door with a bright smile on her face. "Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to be going. Don't worry, though. You're in good hands. It was wonderful meeting you and I hope I'll be seeing Leo soon!"

Mrs. Rossi waved bemusedly as the girl ran off down the street as if kissed by the wind. "I hope that nothing's wrong," she commented uncertainly.

Staring at his friend's retreating back, Jake replied softly, "Me, too."

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"Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun …"

"Shut it," Leo muttered to his backpack, glancing around to see if anyone noticed. "Soccer balls don't talk."

An ear, followed by an eye, poked out of the top flap of the bag. "But I'm not a soccer ball, Spikey."

"Stay down!" Leo shoved Chibutoumon back down, flicking his eyes up and down the street to see if anyone had noticed. It was silly of him to worry; in his small part of town, next to no one was willing to test the blazing sun. "You have to _pretend_ to be a soccer ball, alright? At least until we get to the park."

"Ok, but it's not as fun as being a Digimon.'

It wasn't exactly reassuring, but Leo figured that they'd be fine until they got to Blueberry Park. He'd played in it a bunch when he was a kid, but the years and lack of government funding had done their work on the place. But that was an advantage now. No kid was going to play on overgrown and rusted gym equipment, so who'd stumble on him and Chibutoumon there? He'd found the little furball there, after all.

He rounded a last corner and grinned. The park was in a more abandoned part of town, and what with the old buildings on three sides and a line of trees on the other, it was fairly invisible to passersby. Perfect.

Unlatching his pack, he lifted Chibutoumon out. "We're good to go. Until, you know, they demo this thing. Construction's been pretty heavy this year."

Chibutoumon smiled up at him sweetly. "What's demo, Spikey?"

"Demolish. Uh, knock down." Leo waved his arms around in the air in a bad attempt at demonstrating it. "Hey. Why are you calling me Spikey?"

The fuzzy little head giggled. "Because of your hair. It's all … spikey!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you're all …" Leo paused. He realized he hadn't taken a good look at the Digimon that had appeared in his neighborhood last night. He hadn't had a chance to think about having a partner Digimon at all. It had all happened so fast.

No time like the present, then.

Chibutoumon chuckled happily as Leo looked him over. He was exactly what Leo had said before – a big head with ears. A Baby Digimon, if he remembered correctly. He was covered in a soft fur unlike any animal that Leo had ever seen before, lizard scale patterns etched on the thick coat of a bear preparing for hibernation; the color was an intense shade of forest green. Then there were the eyes, which took up most of the face. They were a deep amber that added an odd hint of danger to him, which was made up by his tiny curved mouth. The ears were rounded and drooped, hiding part of his face and making him look like he was in an eternal game of peek-a-boo.

"Small," he concluded lamely. He remembered what his grandpa had called him and laughed. "Small Fry."

"Spikey and Small Fry," proclaimed Chibutoumon importantly, drawing himself to his full, unimpressive height. "Saving the world together! Yay!"

Leo ruffled the little guy's fur. "Sure. Speaking of worlds … where did you come from? The Digital World?"

The place where a nose should be wrinkled. "I think so. I remember another place. It was pretty. But then I was here. With you. Because I'm your partner."

"I know, buddy." Leo sat back on the damp wood chips. "Wow. A real Digital World. This is too surreal."

"Hey, Spikey? Does it get foggy around here a lot?"

Leo swiveled his head to see light silver clouds rolling into the park. Instead of coming from a point outside, they seemed to be emitting from the same corner of the park that Chibutoumon had first appeared.

"That's not fog, Small Fry."

Fumbling for his Digivice, the young (and inexperienced, as he was rapidly realizing) Digimon Tamer locked his eyes on the dark silhouette slowly taking shape only a few yards away.

Without warning, Chibutoumon lit with a flash of white light. Leo's DigiVice whirled around a few times and briefly showed a picture of what looked like an In-Training form; the picture dissolved, then was replaced by a new one. An Rookie Digimon.

"Wow," Leo repeated reverently.

The picture matched the new Digimon next to him. The fur was gone; the ears were gone; the adorable smile was definitely gone. In its stead was what could only be described as a small leaf colored dragon.

Leo looked down at the Digivice. "Doramon."

"Yup." Doramon's voice crackled like a freshly laid furnace. "That felt strange, Spikey." The little dragon – little being a relative measure; his head comfortably rested at the same level as Leo's hip – blinked the same disarming amber eyes up at his partner.

"You just did two DigiEvolutions at once. I don't think Digimon usually do that." Leo laughed weakly. "I think I expected a little bit more of a show."

"I'm sorry. I've never done it before. Maybe _he'll_ give us a show."

"Oh, God, right." A great Tamer he was, turning his back on the Digimon coming out of the field.

The Digimon had finally taken form. It looked like someone had taken a caricature of rabbit and brought it to life. Something about it struck a chord in Leo's memory. He checked the Digivice. In bright red letters, it proclaimed the creature "Gazimon."

Before Leo could stop him, Doramon bounded forward to meet the newcomer. "Hey! Hey! Wanna play with me?"

Gazimon grinned nastily and raised his arms pointedly. A bolt of blue-white lightening headed straight for the playful Digimon.

"Electric Stun Blast!"

Doramon's brand new wings got a test run; they flared as his hind legs pushed him from the ground, and he soared over Gazimon. He flipped head over claws on the landing, then whipped his tail around for balance.

"Cool," Leo whispered. Dinosaur Digimon were so overrated. Dragons rocked!

Gazimon narrowed his eyes and spun around. "Alright, so you've got reflexes. But I've got the power. Electric Stun Blaster!" The rabbit fired off three rapid shots in succession with deadly accuracy.

"Dodge it!" Leo yelled redundantly; Doramon had already leaped aside, wings spread threateningly. "Use … um … stupid thing, tell me his attacks …" Leo shook the Digivice, hoping it would come up with more information.

Doramon didn't need him. "Mythic Spark!" he growled, spitting fire at his opponent. Gazimon stumbled back, massaging his shoulder.

"Tackle him!"

It was over almost as soon as Leo suggested it. His Digimon ran and planted his giant feet on Gazimon, shoving the other Digimon down and taking off into the sky. Before the rabbit had a chance to recover, Doramon pivoted in the air with a swish of his powerful wings and opened his fanged muzzle one more time. "Mythic Spark!"

Without another sound, Gazimon imploded. Little specks of grey data floated off into the atmosphere. The gate closed. The fog cleared.

"Awesome!" Leo ran over to where Gazimon had been and waved his hands frantically at Doramon, who was circling just above him. "That was the coolest I've ever seen, hands down."

"I did alright, Spikey?" Doramon asked uncertainly, lowering himself to face level.

"Alright? Small Fry, that was incredible!" Leo yanked the dragon out of sky and hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, I'd say that was pretty incredible, too."

Leo whirled around quickly. What he saw made his stomach drop down to his feet and his face go an ashy grey.

Standing at the park entrance was a girl, staring straight at Doramon.

AN: Not amazing. I beyond don't love it. Still, as I said, it's really only so I can start setting up the real story. This probably will leave you with a lot of questions, considering the odd structure of it, but I should take care of that next time. Also – this one was much longer, yes? Improvement! Love? Hate? Review!


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